Help us remember our fallen Great War heroes

Campaign for Flanders monument to Welsh troops

A campaign is launched today for a memorial stone to commemorate Wales’ brave servicemen and women in World War I.

The Daily Post has joined forces with campaigners including Conwy councillor Phil Edwards, retired Royal Welch Fusiliers major Merfyn Thomas and Alwyn Bevan of Bangor to call for donations to The Welsh Memorial In Flanders (WMF) to raise £90,000 to put up the stones – or “cromlech” – in Belgium.

It is a Wales-wide venture and some £38,000 has already been raised in South Wales for the monument to be sited at Langemark. It would be unveiled towards the end of 2014 – a century after the conflict broke out.

A lorry carrying huge boulders hewn from a Pontypridd quarry drove there last week, escorted by a Royal British Legion motorcycle riders club. The remaining money will pay for a survey of the land, for a Welsh dragon on top and a number of plaques.

An artist's impression of a memorial, or cromlech, campaigners would like to see in Belgium to commemorate everyone from Wales who served in the Great War of 1914-1918.

Daily Post Editor Alison Gow said: “We are immensely proud to be supporting this campaign. We believe that a memorial recognising the service of those who fought in World War I is clearly long overdue.”

Welsh Secretary David Jones, Clwyd West MP, said: “I would very much welcome a memorial to the Welshmen and women who served in World War I. A lot of people from North Wales will want to contribute to it.”

His own grandfather Thomas John Williams fought in the Royal Welch Fusiliers against the Turks in Palestine and survived.

The MP added: “The important thing is that it would not just commemorate those who were killed but all who served.”

The WMF campaign honorary chairman, retired Brigadier Ian McLeod, has written to the Prince Of Wales asking for his support.

Mr Thomas, a former Conwy county councillor from Old Colwyn, said: “Phil Edwards and I have recently been to Ypres. We were surprised that there was no memorial to the Welsh nation in the area. There were individual monuments to units like the Royal Welsh Regiment and the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Ireland has a huge memorial but Wales does not as yet.”

There is already a Scottish monument at Zonnebeke and the Island of Ireland Peace Park at Messines.

Cllr Edwards said letters requesting donations will now be sent to councils, businesses, schools and others.

Alwyn Bevan and Cllr Phil Edwards

The chosen site has been donated by the Belgian authorities where the third battle of Ypres was fought. Many Welsh soldiers died there, including poet Ellis Humphrey Evans, better known as Hedd Wyn. He was killed in 1917 on the first day of the Battle Of Passchendaele – weeks before he was named winner of the National Eisteddfod chair. There were 31,000 Allied fatalities that day alone.

The cromlech inscription will simply honour “all persons of Welsh descent who served in the Great War”.

To boost the WMF appeal, a badge has been designed, with organisers inviting donations of £3 or more for each one. Pick up your badge at the Royal British Legion Club in Coed Pella Road, Colwyn Bay.

Commemorative lapel pin

The Wales-wide memorial would add to existing sites in Belgium.

For example, there is already a red dragon monument marking the place where the 38th (Welsh) Division set off to attack the Germans in Mametz Wood on July 7, 1916 and suffered heavy losses, 97 years ago. The wood was eventually cleared by July 14 but at a cost of over 4,000 casualties.

*Anyone can donate at any Lloyd TSB branch, quoting sort code 30-93-53 and account number 37974560. Payments to the Welsh Memorial in Flanders Campaign. Registered charity number 1151256.

*If you had a relative in the First World War we would like to hear from you about their story. Please e-mail: helen.harper@trinitymirror.com, visit Facebook page Daily Post or on Twitter: @dailypostwales

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The Editor

Mark Thoma

Liverpool-born Mark joined the Daily Post in January 2014 after seven years as editor of its Merseyside sister title the Liverpool Post. He started out as a weekly news reporter on Wirral Newspapers, and spent seven years at the Daily Post and Liverpool Echo. He was The Press Association's regional correspondent for North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire from 1983 to 1997, before returning to the ECHO as deputy news editor. He has won a number of journalism awards, including the UK Press Gazzette Regional Reporter of the Year award, and in 1993 wrote a book on the James Bulger murder.